Abduction
by mellophone girl44
Summary: Set before the first assassination attempt, but instead of assassins, we are faced with a group that wants to abduct Dancia.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, so this is my first piece on FanFiction, so please R&R. I love _constructive _criticism. This particular piece is in the middle of Hawksong, before the first assassination attempt. Instead of assassins, we are faced with a group that wants to abduct Danica.

**Disclaimer: I am NOT Amelia Atwater-Rhodes and I do NOT own _Hawksong. _**

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_He is wrong. _Whatever else our relationship might be, it could never be meaningless.

Heart still pounding loud enough to wake the dead, I followed him into the hall trying to discern which direction he had gone. In that moment of hesitation, my ears picked up a noise that registered as subtly wrong.

I turned to my right and was suddenly startled by what seemed to be three dark figures, possibly a fourth, advancing quickly to wards me. I thought about crying out in hopes of Zane hearing me, but it was already too late. The attackers had gagged me with a dark cloth and slipped a bag over my head.

My world was dark and stuffy as I was dragged away from my room. I kicked and attempted to scream, but my attempts were idle. Whoever this was, was extremely strong and held me firmly.

I could hear the captors murmuring to one another, but I could not decipher any information from them.

I heard a door swing open and then felt the sting of the cool night air. A few steps farther and I was slung into, what I guessed was, a horse carriage. Once the strong hands had let go of me, I tried to get the bag off of my head and run away, but the hands were soon locked around my wrists, binding them. They bound my wrists tightly with rope, so tight that the rope cut into my skin, and did the same to my ankles.

The ride was not long. We soon stopped abruptly somewhere outside of the Serpiente lands.

"Get up," A gruff voice commanded, as I was being pulled up by the binds on my wrists. I did as commanded, because I felt it was the surest way to stay alive. When I was out of the carriage and on my feet, my captor cut the binds from around my ankles.

I was continuously pushed through the forest. Tree limbs hit my face, slicing the skin on my cheeks and arms. I tripped several times and was pulled up by the binds repeatedly. My wrists, ankles, face, and arms were bleeding along with my bruised knees and shins.

It seemed that we continued to walk forever, but I was beginning to hear voices in the distance. We had most likely reached our destination. I did not know who these people were or where they were taking me, so I was not sure if the people that I could hear in the distance would help me. I decided to keep my mouth shut. If we were walking in a public place and the people there would help me, they would automatically know that something was wrong when they saw me.

As we advanced, the voices grew gradually louder. I could begin to see faint streaks of light through the material of the bag.

"Take her to the Dividing House." A mysterious and deep voice ordered.

We had obviously entered the town, or perhaps a village, or even a camp, just an area where a group had taken refuge. We were turning slightly to the left to, from what I could tell seemed to be a more secluded place. Finally, we entered some kind of building.

Inside the building it was extremely hot and was rank with some rancid odor. It smelled like blood, steam, sweat, and filth. Shortly after we entered, my captor threw me down. He ripped the bag off of my head and my golden hair fell onto my face in a rumpled mess. He reached behind me to untie the gag.

His features were very similar to Adelina's and Ailbhe's. He had pale skin and hair and startling green eyes. From what I guessed he was a white viper.

"Where is Zane?" He asked in a threatening tone.

"I don't know." I said forcefully and shivering with fear.

It wasn't until then that I began to notice my surroundings. I was in something similar to a prison cell. The floors were dirt and the walls were made out of crude wood. The man slammed the gate to my cell closed and locked it. He shot me one final glare before walking away.

He hadn't untied my wrists and I tried to pull free, but it only made my wrists bleed more. I finally gave up on trying to free myself.

It was already late when I had been taken from the Serpiente palace, who's to know what time it was now. I fell over onto my side, exhausted. I slowly fell into blissful and sweet unconsciousness


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry it took me so long to update. But finally, here you go: chapter 2.**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Hawksong**_

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THE NEXT MORNING I was awoken very early by the sound of my cell door being slammed open. My throat burned and my eyes were blurry as I tried to make out the figure walking towards me. He grabbed the hair my tangled hair and yanked my head backward.

"Have you changed your mind?" He said in a mocking yet threatening tone.

"I don't understand." I said through my teeth.

He let go of my hair pushing my head forward as he let go. My head hit the floor, an action that caused my skin to tear and blood roll down the side of my face. He pulled me up by one arm and slammed me against the wall.

"Let me clarify it for you. Where is Zane?" His green eyes blazed with angst and hate.

"I've told you I—" He began to drag me by my left arm out of the cell. My legs and body were trailing like limp fish behind me as he dragged me down a long corridor. He forcefully slammed a door open and threw me into the room.

As I regained my surroundings I took in every detail. One man was standing directly before me, looking down at me with a blank expression on his face, two guards were standing at strict attention on either side of the room, and the man that had brought me here took his place behind the daunting first man. The interior of the room was very similar to that of my cell, the walls were the same crude wood and the floors were dirt, but there was also a very startling difference in the two. There were several devices around the room, most of the devices were drenched in blood, and others seemed to be steaming with some kind of hot material.

"Welcome, Danica, to the Dividing House. We were not properly introduced last night. My name is Aeothor and I am a white viper of the outcast Obsidian guild. You my dear, are going to help change that status. You see, you are the bait. Once Zane knows I have you he will come, and I will then barter your life for his."

The horror struck me. If the Serpiente people knew that their Diente was slain trying to protect his new avian Naga, our delicate balance of peace would come crashing down. "He will never agree." I said defiantly.

I knew I had broken Aeothor's calm when I said this. He broke into a menacing laugh. "You see, that is where you are wrong!" He began to be more frantic. "He will come, do you want to know why?"

I stared back at him harshly.

"He will agree because he loves you." He said calmly.

I wanted to believe the words were false, but as soon as he had said them I knew they were true. Using my controlled avain reserve I stared back at him placidly.

"Maybe, this will change your mind." Aeothor, once again pulled me up by my tangled hair. He drug me over to a metal chair with leather straps. With the assistance of the guards, he successfully strapped my arms and feet down. One of the guards strapped my head down with two straps, one at my jaw and one on my forehead. All I could see was the ominous ceiling, until Aeothor came into my view. He was holding a rod of iron that was red-hot on the end.

"This will make you talk my dear."

All I could remember was the intense pain and the searing sound the iron made when it touched my skin, then the world went dark.

**Four days later**

My knees were pulled up to my chest, and my forehead rested on my knees. The rumpled mess my hair had become was blanketing around me, creating a sense of darkness. Once again the painful squeak of the cell door being opened terrified me. Like a slave shuttering at the sight of his master's whip, I coward to the noise.

Although I was scared out of my wits I needed to show my captors no fear. I bravely stood up and held my head high. I walked, almost pompously through the corridor of cells. Men were cat-calling and yelling my name; I kept walking.

Once we were into the torture chamber I stood at strict soldier's attention. I used my avian reserve to get through these sessions. Aethor was once again trying to crack me and trying to make me give in. He promised that I would be released as soon as they had Zane. Although, they kept torturing me to give them answers I did not give in. I would have to hold strong if I wanted any chance at peace when I got out of here.

"Danica," Aeothor paced around me. "I'm getting tired of this. All you need to do is tell me where Zane is. That's all I need."

I said nothing.

Aeothor sighed. "I really do not want to damage your lovely skin any more than possible." He got very close to me and started to finger my hair. He dropped the hair when I did not say anything. "Then you leave me no choice."

Amongst the several fashions of torture they inflicted on me, the worst was probably the hot and cold water. They would shove my head into a barrel of steaming hot water and then into a barrel of frigid cold water. They repeated this over and over, and the drastic change between the two temperatures was unbearable. I think Aeothor knew this was my most hated out of all because that was the one he chose tonight. He was getting desperate for answers and thought this would motivate me. I knew that whatever I did, I did not need to hand Zane over to them. If Zane was killed, I knew that there would never be a chance for peace in the decades to come.

"Where is he?" Aeothor was standing in front of the barrels, interrogating me, while a guard did the actual torturing.

When I did not answer his question he signaled to the guard and I braced myself by taking a big gulp of air before being submerged into the boiling hot water. The guard pulled my head up brutally and pushed it into the cold barrel. The freezing water on my hot face stung, and almost knocked the air out of me.

I screamed, at the pain, and I could tell it pleased Aeothor greatly.

I was breathing heavily to try to overcome the pain. "You might as well kill e now. I'll never tell you. I won't let you so easily destroy the peace I have sacrificed so greatly to build."

I saw a flash of anger across his face. He looked up to the guard and signaled to him. I was then pulled up by my arms and drug through the corridor back to my cell, once again.

After the guards left, I sat down and pulled my knees up to my chest. I could not take anymore. I _would _have rather died. Wasn't anyone looking for me?

I began to feel overwhelmed, and in the dark recesses of my bleak cell, I cried. I was glad to be alone, and to allow my emotions to get the better of me. It felt good. It felt like something that I had been missing my entire life.

Mind racing, tears rolling; my world had been turned upside down in only a matter of possibly a week.

I heard a noise to my left, and quickly raised my throbbing head. Something had moved, I was for sure of it. I stood to examine the room, watching for intruders. A cool hand rapped around itself around my mouth, and another cool, pale arm coiled itself around my waist. I wanted to scream out for help but I couldn't. I was breathing so fast it was excruciatingly audible to my ears.

"Shh, shh. It's me. Don't worry, it's me." The calm flowing, liquid voice of Zane lingered in my ears. "Don't scream." He gently released his grip on me, and I turned to face him. His flaming garnet eyes had never been so welcomed by myself as they were now.

"Zane." I breathed, wrapping my arms around him and embracing him. He seemed a little stunned, but he soon recovered and answered my gesture with two strong arms around my waist. I held onto him for a few moments, not wanting to let go.

After I had finally let go, one of Zane's hands still lingered around my waist, and the other made it's way up to my face. He gently caressed my face, and whispered, "What have they done to you?"

He was soon disrupted by the sound of a guard not too far off into the distance.

"We have to leave, now. Let's go." Zane led the way out of the cell and into the hallway, where we were quickly spotted by a guard not too far behind us. "Run!" Zane commanded me.

I could hear the guard shouting for help and sounding the alarm, and it only made my legs fly faster. Zane had a firm grasp of my hand, and led me through the labyrinth of hallways until I was thoroughly lost, but we eventually made our way outside. We ran to what seemed to be the stables, and I turned to steal a quick glance at the guards behind us. There were three of them and they were gaining on us greatly.

Zane and I only ran a few feet farther, where he hoisted me up onto a black horse, then unteathered it from the post.

"Zane!" I shouted as the one of the three guards swung a clever at him. He quickly dodged it, and kicked the guard in the torso, sending him to the ground. Another guard came behind him, and wrapped his strong arms around his neck. Somehow, Zane had wriggled out of his grasp. "Just go!" He shouted at me. "Danica, go!"

"I won't leave without you!"

He spoke something to the horse in a language I did not understand, then spooked it. The horse surged toward the north, steadily leaving Zane behind. "No!" I shouted in protest. Whatever commands I would give to the horse were utterly ignored. I felt hopeless as I rode off, back home.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Oh wow, look, she posted chapter 3! lol(: Yes, I did, simply out of boredom.**

"What exactly happened?" Adelina questioned me thoroughly.

"I-I-I'm not for sure." I stammered.

Her fist slammed down on the table, an action that made me jump. "Damn it, Danica! Tell me what happened!"

"I've told you, I _don't know_!" I shouted back at her with equal force.

Rei, with arms crossed, winced at my unavian outburst. "Well, _figure it out._" She mocked me.

"Ladies." Rei said in a chastising tone. "This will not help the situation any. Adelina, Danica has told you all she knows. I know the information as well as you do, and you know where they are keeping him. You needn't let your heritage and past experiences cloud your judgement." Adelina unleashed the full power of her glare on him, but Rei didn't so much as flinch.

She broke her gaze and hung her head in submission. She was well aware that her heritage _was _clouding her judgement, and she was also well aware that her stupidity was hurting the man that she loved. "We need to gather enough troops to invade them." Her gaze remained on the table in front of her.

"I already have."

"You have?" Adelina sounded stunned.

"Yes. I knew that, whether or not you _wanted _to invade them did not matter. It is Danica, the Naga of the Serpiente, that makes the final decision." He looked towards me, and Adelina followed his gaze. "Danica?"

I stood perfectly still, thinking for a moment. "Send in the troops." I said slowly and calmly.

"Okay." Rei began to turn away, but there was a commotion in the hallway outside the door. He went outside to see what was happening.

"Ma'am!" A serpent called from outside, trying to get to me. Rei restrained him from doing so, and I knew that he could hold him. "Let go of me you over zealous bird!"

"What is your business with the Naga?" Adelina asked.

"Zane. He's back."


End file.
